Ape Chronicles #045 - Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive

DOCTOR ZIRA: One of a Kind
By Patrick Michael Tilton
"What made Zira unique - her rebellious nature in
the first film which seems to go against Zaius and
the council / what made her that way" Using
details from the films, I will seek to explore
possible motivations as to her feisty nature.
In order to know more about her, we need to know
as much as we can about the society in which she
grew up. We know several things about her society.
1. The Chimpanzees do not have "control" even
though there is a Chimpanzee contingent in the
Citizens' Council. In PLANET, the Orangutan
faction is clearly in control of the Government --
what they call "the Academy" with a President of
the Academy presiding over the Tribunal. The
Orangutans are in positions of power, with a
Gorilla serving as a Bailiff (aided by other Gorillas)
and a Chimpanzee serving as the Court Reporter.
The President is flanked by two other Orangutans --
the Minister of Science (and Chief Defender of the
Faith), and the Commissioner for Animal Affairs --
and is served by an orangutan Prosecutor, Dr.
Honorius, the Deputy Minister of Justice.
2. At some point in the past, a "Quota System" had
been in place, and only recently abolished. The
purpose of a Quota System is to keep participation
of an undesirable minority to a bare-minimum. The
Chimpanzees had been that undesirable minority,
allowed to work at successful jobs that were few
and far between -- prevented from succeeding due
to their merits by the Powers-That-Be, the
Orangutans. But that Quota System had somehow
been abolished, so that a scientist like Dr. Zira
could now "make it" in the professional world. Dr.
Galen hoped that she could use whatever influence
she had with Dr. Zaius to "speak to" him... to put in
a good word so as to help him to become a greater
success in his profession.
3. At some point in the past -- within the last
generation or so -- there had been some sort of
military action. The unnamed gorilla whose funeral
service Taylor unwittingly disturbs is referred to as
"a model for us all... a gorilla to remember...
hunter... warrior... defender of the faith..." He,
among other things, is lauded as a "warrior". If
humans are deemed mere animals fit to be hunted
by the Hunt Club, then against whom did the Ape
Army wage a war in the not-too-distant past
Zaius tells Cornelius that "only an Apostate would
flee to the Forbidden Zone" ... which suggests that
just that sort of thing had actually happened before.
Perhaps the war in which the "warrior" gorilla had
served was a war fought by Apes against apostate
Apes. Against Apes who had become Heretics. A
gorilla warrior who is also a "defender of the faith"
would have been under the supervision of the
"Chief Defender of the Faith" would he not And
Dr. Zaius, in 3955, is the current CDOTF (to put it
in acronym form). Zaius has a granddaughter, we
learn... which would make him old enough to have
been the CDOTF for several decades -- perhaps
dating back to the time when the War against Ape
Apostates had been waged.
Perhaps the Quota System was established in
reaction to the Apostasy War. Perhaps a band of
Chimpanzees rebelled against the stranglehold the
religiously fanatical Orangutans had on Ape
Society and found themselves opposed not only
through vehement argument... but also through
MILITARY ACTION. Sure, "Ape Shall Not Kill
Ape"... unless it is God's Will that heresy and
apostasy be eradicated amongst "God's Chosen"
people.
After the War... after the chimpanzee Apostates and
Heretics had been dealt with... after the Quota
System puts the chimps in their place for a few
decades... then, when it seems that there has been
religious reform amongst those who had been prone
to question the dogmas and doctrines of the
Lawgiver's religion, then the Academy abolishes
the Quota System and allows chimpanzees to serve
in positions of "academia" that lead to
advancement. Towards equality.
But there is still that tendency to rub orthodoxy the
wrong way...
Cornelius gets permission to travel -- a "Travel
Permit" -- and "exceeded his orders"... bringing
back certain artefacts which had prompted him to
put forth "an insidious theory called 'Evolution'..."
which half the Academy said was Heresy.
Cornelius, like Galileo recanting his endorsement
of the Copernican theory of cosmology, had done
the sensible thing and allowed his theory of
Evolution to be subsumed under the threat of
having his "head chopped off" -- either literally or
figuratively.
Cornelius knows enough not to "get into that
battle"... a battle that pits Scientific Truth against